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Recipe for Food Safety

Protecting people from deadly Listeria food poisoning

June 2013

1600

3rd

90%

At least 90% of people who get Listeria infections are either pregnant women and their newborns, people 65 or older, or people with weakened immune systems.

Many germs can be spread through food. Some, like Listeria, can be deadly. Listeria strikes hard at pregnant women and their newborns, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems. Listeria can cause miscarriage and meningitis. Most people found to have Listeria infection require hospital care and about 1 in 5 people with the infection die. Outbreak investigations tell us what foods make people sick and what needs to change to make food safer and save lives. We have made some progress against Listeria, which is the third leading cause of death from food poisoning. However, we can do more to protect people at higher risk for food poisoning and make food safer for everyone.

If you, or someone you make food for, are pregnant, 65 or older, or have a weakened immune system, you must be especially careful when selecting, preparing, and storing foods.

Investigating and stopping outbreaks by recalling contaminated foods and warning the public.

Applying CDC's enhanced approach to investigating Listeria infections in all states so disease detectives can rapidly solve outbreaks by:

DNA fingerprinting the Listeria germ to identify outbreaks and contaminated foods, and interviewing people who are sick—quickly and uniformly—about what they ate. See Listeria Initiative [PDF - 617 KB]

Building public health capacity for advanced genome sequencing and analysis, which will make it possible to more quickly detect Listeria infections and outbreaks, and track them to their sources.

Food industry and places that sell or serve food can:

Promptly communicate recalls of foods at risk for contamination.

Follow related guidance and regulations that address foods that are more likely to be contaminated.

Adopt proven actions like good sanitation and refrigeration in all food production and service facilities for Listeria control.

Identify and apply research to better prevent Listeria growth and cross-contamination in factories and stores, such as retail delis.

Health care providers can:

Tell pregnant women, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems about Listeria and other dangerous germs spread through food.

Report Listeria infections quickly to the local health department to help spot and stop outbreaks.